title
Ordinance Amending Regulations for Utility Use of Public Rights-of-Way (B)
Ordinance No. 190129
An ordinance of the City of Gainesville, Florida, amending the City of Gainesville Code of Ordinances Chapter 23, Article VI - Public Rights-of-Way Use by Utilities and Appendix A, Schedule of Fees, Rates, and Charges, relating to regulations that apply to public rights-of-way use by utilities, including communications facilities and small wireless facilities; providing directions to the codifier; providing a severability clause; providing a repealing clause; and providing an effective date.
recommendation
The City Commission adopt the proposed ordinance.
explanation
STAFF REPORT
This ordinance will amend the City's regulations in Chapter 23 of the Code of Ordinances that apply to public rights-of-way (ROWs) use by utilities, including communications facilities and small wireless facilities, as required by the Florida Legislature's 2019 adoption of Senate Bill 1000. On March 1, 2018, the City Commission adopted Ordinance No. 170786 and substantially revised the City's regulations regarding use of public ROWs by utilities, primarily in response to the Florida Legislature's 2017 amendment to Section 337.401, Florida Statutes, which required cities to allow the collocation of small wireless facilities on certain utility poles within public ROWs and which provided certain procedural and substantive limitations on local governments. Subsequently, the Governor of the State of Florida approved Senate Bill 1000 on June 25, 2019, which further limits the authority of local governments to regulate their public ROWs regarding use by communications services providers.
The City's regulatory program for utility use of public ROWs recognizes that public ROWs are a unique and physically limited resource and seeks to use and manage this resource by thoughtfully balancing the objectives of safety, aesthetics, economic vitality, and service delivery, all within the com...
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